Anselmo Lastra http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:48:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 Back to Bush Creek http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/2009/05/03/back-to-bush-creek/ http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/2009/05/03/back-to-bush-creek/#comments Sun, 03 May 2009 19:12:22 +0000 admin http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/?p=264 Mary is out of town, so I went paddling by myself today. Since I only had a 1/2 day, I decided to go back to Bush Creek in order to not spend time figuring out how to put in at a new place. It sure is easy to set up there. The parking lot is right by a nice flat spot carpeted with pine needles. The portage to the water from there is very short.

The weather was unsettled, with the sun appearing just a bit, and the wind very variable. I ended up having to paddle back into a stiff headwind.

I did get to see the Bald Eagle again, up close, when it flew away from a tree about 20 yards from me. My assumption is that it’s the same one that we saw last time because it was in the same area. I also saw a Great Blue Heron, some turtles, and lots of jumping fish.

]]> http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/2009/05/03/back-to-bush-creek/feed/ Kayaking on Jordan Lake http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/2009/05/02/kayaking-on-jordan-lake/ http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/2009/05/02/kayaking-on-jordan-lake/#comments Sat, 02 May 2009 23:37:40 +0000 admin http://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~lastra/wordpress/?p=244 We got a couple of new kayaks, inflatables from Advanced Elements. Mary’s is an AdvancedFrame, and mine is an Expedition.  I first ordered a folding kayak (Pakboat) from REI, but it took so long to assemble and disassemble compared to Mary’s boat, that I returned it and ordered one similar to Mary’s.  I decided to go for a little larger boat because foot space was a bit cramped on hers.

We first tried them (I had the Pakboat) while camping at Goose Creek State Park over Easter weekend.  Then a couple of weekends ago, we took the boats to Jordan Lake to try my new Expedition.

I found an excellent website,  Doggie-Paddling, which lists many paddling locations around here.  It’s very well done, with descriptions, pictures, GPS tracks, and maps.  Based on his trip descriptions, we decided to try Bush Creek.  Excellent location. The paddle was a lot of fun.  We even saw a Bald Eagle, which perched on a tree right above our heads.  The picture of it (last one below) is not very good, but it’s so unusual that I decided to include it.

Here are a few pictures.

Mary at Jordan Lake

Mary at Jordan Lake

Anselmo in Advanced Elements Expedition

Anselmo in Advanced Elements Expedition

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle


View Bush Creek Paddle, 4/22009 in a larger map

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